Ashley Continued

One of the reasons I’m so glad that Ashley held to her conviction on her choice of college (sometimes children do know more than their parents) was that she met her future husband Mike there. They got together within the first few weeks, and we knew right away that this was serious. (He was intrigued by and drawn to her unusual name; how glad I am we named her that). They dated for 3 ½ years and married during Christmas break their senior year.

Mike was the son of missionaries/teachers, so he was a world traveler by the time he arrived on the campus. He had lived in Afghanistan, India, Samoa, and more recently, California (which is almost as foreign to me as the other places).

The first time he came to visit, he met my mother-in-law, a gracious Southern lady, who taught math at Vanderbilt for years. She was also a history buff, and when she learned that Mike came from California, she said, “Did you know that California fought for the North during the War Between the States?” Mike quickly learned of the importance of that war to Southerners.

He is a fun-loving guy who knows how to have a good time. He and Ash have 4 children and live in Phoenix, AZ, where he is CFO of Karston Company, the makers of Ping golf clubs. I particularly appreciate his getting tickets to the BCS Bowl for us last year when the Florida Gators (my team) beat Ohio State in the finals. That was definitely the football experience of a lifetime for me.

So even though I am sad that they live so far away from the rest of us, I am secure in the knowledge that Ashley has such a great husband and children.